Encounter
by chandeluresinitaly
Summary: Ana Amari hates wasted potential, and Roadhog hates wasting his time.


I...really want Mako and Ana to be friends. Please, Blizzard. Please deliver this Certified Gold Friendship.

* * *

He has no idea why he's here, why he's walking down this barely lit hallway. Roadhog has no clue whatsoever as to why he thought this was a good idea. But it's too late to turn back now, he decides as he reaches upon a metal door.

Roadhog grabs the handle, and pulls. Normally this kind of door would be a bit of a struggle for a person with low to moderate muscle strength, but for the large man it was like any other. He walks through the entry way and is finally welcomed with decent lighting, but the room itself mimicked the hallway he had just came from. In fact, the room was so plain that his attention was brought immediately to the center where a masked figure sat at a small table. On the surface was a white and pink porcelain teapot, two matching teacups on each side of the table, a basket of what looked like small butter cookies, and a file.

"I'm so glad you could join me," the mysterious figure said. "Please, do sit down. I promise you are not in any danger."

Pretty hard to believe after traveling into a strange room via ominous hallway.

But Roadhog wasn't worried for his life in the slightest. He's had his share of escaping traps, and knew that he couldn't let this person see him sweat. Once he closed the door behind him, he grabbed a chair and sat himself down, glancing over the table setting before bringing his attention back to the cloaked person.

"I appreciate you doing this calmly," the figure spoke again. "Oh, where are my manners? Here you are acting a gentleman and I have yet to return the favor."

The mysterious person pulled at their hood slightly with one hand so that the other hand would have more ease removing the mask, and revealed underneath was an elderly woman with her long white hair in a braid. Something felt familiar to Roadhog about this woman, but the missing eye and choice of headgear was conflicting to his memory.

"I made sure that this little chat of ours won't hinder your travels," Ana said as she lifted the teapot. She poured herself a cup of still piping hot tea and gestured to the cup in front of Roadhog. "Care for a drink?" she asked.

Roadhog had every reason to decline- he still wasn't sure why he even bothered following her into this place to begin with. He assumed that by "won't hinder your travels", she meant wherever he had parked his bike (and passed out Junkrat in the sidecar), it wouldn't get picked up by anybody. He knew very well how to use his gun and hook, so he wasn't scared at all of his life being in danger. He had many reasons to be suspicious, and even stand up and leave. But something about this encounter felt…necessary.

He nodded, and she filled the teacup.

"I've heard a great deal about you," Ana said. With a smile, she took a sip of her tea. "I've had my eye on you ever since I read the report on the ALF's attack on the omnium." She picked up the file that was sitting by the edge of the table, and slid it towards the masked man. But Roadhog didn't open it, he knew exactly what was inside.

It was about his life, after all. Many people knew about the attack on the omnium and the explosion, so it didn't surprise him that she brought it up. But was that the reason he was here?

Ana laughed. "I've been watching all those…A Moment in Crime reports as well. You and that one with the peg leg are a riot." She placed her cup back down and crossed her hands. "Normally that kind of reckless behavior would warrant someone like me stepping in and putting and end to such foolishness, but I think your set of skills would actua-"

Ana was interrupted as the table shook, Roadhog standing up from his seat and heading for the door. It was as if he knew exactly what she was going to say. She let out a sigh and kept her composure. "You could at least hear me out," she said.

Roadhog's hand was still on the handle, but turned to face Ana. She couldn't read his face because of the mask, but she could tell by the change in the atmosphere that he was furious.

"My answer is still no," Roadhog replied. So he _was_ asked this question before.

"It might not be, if you sit back down. Besides, you're letting your tea go cold."

Roadhog rolled his eyes and swung the heavy door open once more. He was too old to sit around and listen to this tired ass nonsense agai-

"Sit back down, Mako Rutledge."

Well. At least this one had the decency to learn his name.

Mako closed the door slowly and sauntered back to his seat. The smile returned to Ana's face.

"Thank you. Now, I'm only doing this because I would hate for you to waste such amazing potential. There are so many other things you could be doing right now!" Ana took another sip from her tea. "Haven't you ever thought about where your life would be after you get tired of ransacking banks and museums all over the world?"

"Don't care."

"So you'd rather spend the rest of your time acting a fool and making others miserable?"

"Is that what you call it?"

Ana frowned. She knew Mako was going to be a hard eggshell to crack, but he was seriously refusing to let his guard down. Still, Ana Amari was determined to get what she wanted.

"I don't know what my associate said to you the last time you were asked to join us, but I promise you the situation is a lot different here. If it would make you feel better, we could talk about something else for a change."

"You are better at conversation than Blondie, that's for sure," Mako muttered.

Ah, so it was Jack that approached him. Ana could see how that went wrong. Jack was like her in a sense, willing to say anything to get what he wanted. But unlike him, Ana remembered that potential recruits were human.

Ana's eye fell onto Mako's hook. "You know, my daughter has told me about some hooligan "hooking" her out of the skies once. You don't happen to know anything about that, do you?"

Mako thought for a moment. He's used that hook of his so many times and many different people, he couldn't pinpoint who she meant. Somebody in the sky…

A memory resurfaced of one of his and Junkrat's past jobs. Jamison suggested they pull a heist in an armory so they could replenish their ammunition. Breaking in was a breeze, but what they weren't expecting was a woman in blue armor firing rockets at them. As Jamie sprinted for dear life towards the bike, Mako fulfilled his duties as a bodyguard by swinging his hook at Pharah and slamming her into a wall.

He smirked under his mask. That was a fun day.

He didn't really care if that woman had lived or not, but he wasn't expecting to meet her mother. Nor did he expect her to sound so calm about it.

"My daughter still has much to learn about being a soldier, and I told her myself that she shouldn't have went in alone like that. Like mother like daughter, I suppose." Ana laughed, only for her face to drop right after. "However, if you were to do anything to cause her any real harm, this meeting would be far from friendly." Still wearing that serious look, she poured herself another cup of tea.

"If I do get you to change your mind, I am going to make you apologize."

"Was just doin' my job."

"And so was my daughter."

"I told you already I don't care."

Ana cocked her eyebrow as she drank. "For someone who doesn't care about a lot of things, you sure do a lot for that partner of yours."

Mako shrugged. "S'what I'm paid to do. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't putting cash in my hand."

"Well if it's money that motivates the two of you, our organization can certainly give you a monetary offer that's more reasonable than wrecking havoc. You don't expect me to believe you WANT to commit crimes all the time, do you?"

The large man didn't answer. She was clearly doing everything in her power attempting to convince him join Overwatch, but he was holding back something that he knew she would try to use against him. Mako didn't want her money. He didn't want to be some glorious, big shot hero that protected this godforsaken world. He resented what this world did to him; he refused to fight alongside those who just let those _machines_ take away his home. He wanted to destroy everything that got in his way, and that was something he knew Ana could never give him. It was why he secretly cherished his time with his employer; his international crime spree with Jamie made him feel more alive than anything. He couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun.

Yet, he still didn't understand why he was humoring this woman. He could have been long gone by now, off in the next city with Jamison plotting their next hit in another rundown motel or something.

Speaking of Jamie, this meaningless conversation went on long enough. Mako hoped he didn't wake up yet and started freaking out about being abandoned.

Ana could tell he was getting impatient. "Well, can't say I didn't try. But it was very much nice to get to know you a little bit." She stood up from her seat and walked over to Mako, placing a small card on top of his file. "If by some miracle you change your mind, or even if you just want someone other than that twitchy companion of yours to talk to, this is how to reach me."

Mako stared at the card for a moment, then picked it up and placed it in one of his vest pockets. He rose from the table as well and headed once more to the door, this time determined to walk through it and never turn back. "Thanks for nothin'," he said as he left.

Ana shook her head with a chuckle. This was definitely not the last time they'd meet, that was for sure. But then she looked down as his now lukewarm teacup and frowned.

Son of a bitch wasted a good cup of tea.

—

Roadhog found his bike just where he left it, in the darkest corner of the abandoned building's parking lot. Thankfully, Junkrat was still sound asleep in his eyesore of a sidecar, his body sprawled out and his organic leg reaching over onto 'Hog's seat.

Mako kicked the sidecar to get the sleeping man's attention. "Get up, boss."

Jamison jumped up at the loud bang, nearly falling over. "The fuck was that for, mate?! A measly tap on th' shoulder woulda been nice!"

"You wanna sleep in an actual bed tonight or break your back in this thing?" Mako asked as he started up his bike.

"Like sharin' a bed with you is any different!" Jamie cackled as he repositioned himself. Mako shook his head as he revved the engine and pulled out into the streets. As they drove past skyscrapers and headed for the city line, Mako replayed his conversation with Ana in his head. She got on his nerves, but she really was different from those other stuffy Overwatch agents. Made him feel like she almost gave a shit. And as the two Junkers found some seedy place outside of town to settle down for the night, Mako kept staring at the card he placed on the busted night table. He almost considered humoring that woman a second time.

Jamie turned over from his side of the bed to face Mako. The big guy had been acting weird since they left. "So where'd you run off to while I was knocked out, anyhow?" he asked.

Mako turned his head to face the smaller man. "I was out thinking," came the muffled reply.

Jamie snorted. He was too tired to question him further. "Sounds like a lotta work. Don't recommend it."

Mako nodded in agreement.


End file.
